The Marilyn & Me Project

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

In an effort to streamline my work, I'm moving this blog (and several others) to my main blog at http://boudoirblog.blogspot.com/. I will keep this blog as a portfolio for the Marilyn & Me Project, but it will also be integrated into my mail blog (Boudoir Blog).

To keep everything in one place, I have also moved all of my Marilyn images to the Boudoir Blog.

I hope this will enable me to post more frequently and to provide all my readers with more, up-to-date information.

A big thank you to everyone who made this project possible, especially my Marilyn's.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

By now, you'd think the world has seen every picture of Marilyn Monroe in existence and heard every story there is to tell about the iconic actress, who would have turned 86 on June 1. But the June issue of Vanity Fair proves there's more Marilyn scoop to be had, even 50 years after her death. The magazine has published a set of six never-before-seen suggestive pictures of the star taken by photographer Lawrence Schiller (who was 23 and went by Larry Wolf back when he took the pics) during a legendary poolside photo shoot.

It was 1962 and Schiller, on assignment for Look magazine, captured a near-naked Monroe as she frolicked by a shimmering swimming pool. In one photo, she holds a towel to her chest as she climbs out of the pool, smiling softly at the camera, one leg pointed towards the sky. But before you start assuming that the male photographer talked a vulnerable Monroe into shedding more than she wanted to, check out some of what Schiller reveals in an adaption of his memoir, Marilyn & Me: A Photographer's Memories, excerpts of which are included along with the photos in Vanity Fair.

Lawrence Schiller/Vanity Fair

"Fox [Studios] should start paying as much attention to me as they are paying to Elizabeth Taylor," Schiller recounts Monroe telling him, referring to her disappointment that not only was the movie studio not taking her seriously enough, but she was also jealous of her fellow actress' success, especially after Taylor got a huge publicity boost from her affair with "Cleopatra" co-star Richard Burton and a media frenzy ensued.

According to Schiller, Monroe hatched a plan to make their shoot a lot sexier by offering to jump in the pool with her swimsuit on, and emerge without it. "If I do come out of the pool with nothing on, I want your guarantee that when your pictures appear on the covers of magazines Elizabeth Taylor is not anywhere in the same issue," she insisted. Monroe was only being paid $100,000 for what would be her last film, "Something's Got to Give," (she died before it was finished) while Taylor was collecting a cool $1 million for "Cleopatra."

Eventually Playboy founder Hugh Hefner agreed to shell out a record-breaking $25,000 for a nude shot of Monroe and when Schiller thanked her for the windfall, joking about what a little nudity can do, the actress responded with, "That's how I got my house and swimming pool. There isn't anybody that looks like me without clothes on."

Despite her beauty and movie-star status, Monroe began revealing her unhappiness to Schiller, pointing out that she'd never been nominated for an Oscar, felt her whole life had been one big rejection, and feared she might end up in a mental institution the way her mother had. She also confided her thoughts on becoming a mother … something that never happened.

"I've always wanted a baby," she said. "Having a child, that's always been my biggest fear. I want a child and I fear a child. Whenever it came close, my body said no and I lost the baby," Schiller recounts.
As for being Marilyn Monroe, she simply never felt like she actually was the famous sex symbol. "I never wanted to be Marilyn — it just happened," she also told him. "Marilyn's like a veil I wear over Norma Jeane."

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Michelle Williams talks about her role as Marilyn Monroe and more in Vogue . - Annie Leibovtiz

Since her days on "Dawson's Creek," Michelle Williams, 30, has transformed into a serious actress who's been nominated for two Oscars. And like most serious actresses, she's fiercely private, rarely talking about her family, which is centered around her daughter Matilda, who will turn 6 in October. She speaks publicly even less frequently about her relationship with Matilda's late father, Heath Ledger, who died suddenly and tragically at age 28 in 2008. But in the October issue of Vogue, she gives a particularly candid interview about her life today and about the role of a lifetime, Marilyn Monroe, which she tackles in her next movie.

Michelle admits that she struggled after Heath's death. Although she's finally moved on, the experience definitely affected her. "Three years ago, it felt like we didn't have anything, and now my life -- our life -- has kind of repaired itself," she reveals to the magazine. "[But] it's changed how I see the world and how I interact on a daily basis. It's changed the parent I am. It's changed the friend I am. It's changed the kind of work that I really want to do. It's become the lens through which I see life -- that it's all impermanent."

But the "Blue Valentine" star also says she's in a good place -- especially since reaching a milestone birthday on September 9. "I feel like something has changed for me, but it's a new change, so it's going to be hard for me to describe," Williams notes. "Maybe it has something to do with turning 30. I don't feel as shy or nervous or self-conscious. I have more confidence that I can handle what life brings me. I don't feel scared to have an idea and express it."

The actress lounges in a retro J.Crew cardigan and capris. - Annie Leibovtiz

Over the years, Williams has obviously gained confidence in her acting, too. She takes on one of the most famous women in pop culture -- and a woman whose picture was plastered all over Michelle's walls when she was growing up in San Diego -- in the upcoming film "My Week With Marilyn." The movie is about the tumultuous filming of the 1957 flick "The Prince and the Showgirl" starring Monroe and leading man/director Sir Laurence Olivier. Williams says she felt drawn to the role immediately, and spent six months preparing for it.

"I'd go to bed every night with a stack of books next to me," she says. "And I'd fall asleep to movies of her. It was like when you were a kid and you'd put a book under your pillow hoping you'd get it by osmosis."

Williams even worked with a choreographer to perfect Marilyn's walk, and gained weight so she could flaunt her signature curves. At one point, she says, she even caught a glimpse of what it was like to feel like Marilyn. "The expectation to be beautiful always makes me feel ugly because I feel like I can't live up to it," she explains. "But I do remember one moment of being all suited up as Marilyn and walking from my dressing room onto the soundstage practicing my wiggle. There were three or four men gathered around a truck, and I remember seeing that they were watching me come and feeling that they were watching me go -- and for the very first time I glimpsed some idea of the pleasure I could take in that kind of attention; not their pleasure but my pleasure. And I thought, 'Oh, maybe Marilyn felt that....'"

Friday, January 14, 2011

For all questions regarding interviews, exhibiting, or speaking to Terri Jean about the Marilyn & Me Project - or to have Terri Jean speak to your classroom or organization - please email her at terrijeanphotography@yahoo.com